The St. Louis Blues set a ratings record on Fox Sports Midwest earlier this week. Meanwhile, ESPN earned record numbers in Chicago for Wednesday’s Heat/Bulls game, and the first MLS match of the season on ESPN2 suffered a double-digit decline in ratings and viewership.
- Blues Earn Highest Rating Ever on FS Midwest: Tuesday’s Blues/Blackhawks NHL regular season game drew a 6.3 rating on Fox Sports Midwest in the St. Louis market, the highest rating ever for a regular season Blues game on the network. The previous record was 5.6 for Sharks/Blues in November 2010. Three of the five highest rated Blues telecasts have taken place this calendar year alone. (blues.nhl.com)
- Heat/Bulls Sets ESPN Record in Chicago: Wednesday’s Heat/Bulls NBA regular season game drew a 6.2 rating on ESPN in Chicago, the market’s highest rating ever for a regular season game on the network. Nationally, the game drew a 2.2 overnight rating, the third-best of the season for the NBA on ESPN. (ESPN)
- ESPN’s MLS Opener Down 44%: Monday’s Union/Timbers MLS regular season match on ESPN2 drew a 0.23 U.S. rating and 337,000 viewers, down 41% in ratings and 44% in viewership from the first match on the ESPN family of networks last year (LA/SEA: 0.39, 641K, ESPN), but up 35% and 18%, respectively, from the first match in 2010 (PHI/SEA: 0.17, 285K, ESPN2). The previous day, NBC Sports Network drew 82,000 viewers for Red Bulls/F.C. Dallas, the first MLS match ever on the network. (ESPN, The Sporting News)
